Fed funds boost LA LRT Regional Connector

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) officials and other transport personnel welcomed a $670 million federal grant aiding a Downtown Regional Connector, scheduled to open in 2020.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told local media Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, that he was pleased that the Federal Transit Administration is funding just under half of the $1.36 billion project cost. Other funding comes in part from Measure R, a half-penny sales tax approved by Los Angeles County voters in 2008.

Three new train stations in downtown Los Angeles will be added as part of the project: 1st Street and Central Avenue, 2nd Street and Broadway, and 2nd and Hope streets.

In 2011 LACMTA selected a joint venture of AECOM and Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) to provide conceptual planning and preliminary design for the project.